Over the weekend, we celebrated Easter as per tradition. On Saturday night, we attended church with our friends and family and waited until after midnight for the announcement that Jesus has risen, which is proclaimed in Greek as Χριστός Ανέστη (xristos anesti). When the bishop proclaims this phrase, holy light is distributed to everyone in attendance to take home. It is believed that this holy light originates from the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem and is brought to Greece and other countries by plane the same night.
After the distribution of the holy light, we exchanged Easter greetings with our friends and loved ones. Additionally, it's common for many people to light fireworks to mark the occasion and celebrate.
After the church service is over we headed home to eat meat after 40 days of lent ( the ones that followed the lent )
The festive dinner table usually includes magiritsa, a traditional Greek soup that is eaten on the night of the resurrection. This soup is made from lamb offal and a variety of herbs.
Of course, the next dish is the red-painted eggs that we play a game with, hitting them against each other and see who's egg will crack. These eggs symbolize the blood of Christ shed during the crucifixion, while the hard shell represents the tomb of Christ. When the shell is broken, it signifies Christ's resurrection from the dead.
That’s the two main traditional foods that every table must have.
The following day, with our families roast a lamb on a spit, which represents Jesus sacrificing himself and dying on the cross, as Jesus is often referred to as the "Lamb of God." However, in the morning, I had a croque-madame at a local bistro before heading out to grill and drink tsipouro.
The weekend was really awesome with a lot of food and alcohol and I also got to see some really beautiful trees
While the holiday is heavily centered around religion, I really enjoy these types of days because they allow us to spend quality time with friends and family, and bond over our traditions. That's one of the positive aspects of honoring our cultural and religious practices.
